I provide commentary on political economy, police and prosecutorial abuse, and whatever else might come to mind.
Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 (ESV)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Is there Criminal Activity in the Craft Case?

Tonya Craft has been acquitted of criminal charges, but as I look over this sorry case, I cannot help but wonder if some real crimes were committed. No, I have not changed my story, as I believe Tonya was innocent of committing any transgressions, but it is obvious to me that lawbreaking abounded, but by the people supposedly upholding the law.

The law protects judges and prosecutors, giving them immunity that, frankly, I don't believe they should have, but, to quote Mr. Bumble, if that be the law, sir, the law is a ass. Nonetheless, I believe that a lot of criminality abounded.

In this post, I will concentrate on federal criminal law, as I admit I know it better than I know state law. (As I see it, the only real remedy on the state level is for the prosecutors to face disbarment and Judge Brian House to be reprimanded or censured.)

Federal prosecutors tend to concentrate on fraud, and I have plenty of examples of how fraud has abounded in this case, and my others that are similar. First, and most important, Buzz Franklin has not targeted "child molestation" in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit because he loves children (although he might like kids). No, Buzz has targeted this area of prosecution because there is a federal payout through the Mondale Act of 1974.

Second, child molestation charges are not difficult to prosecute, no matter what the authorities might tell you, especially when a one-stop prosecutorial shopping opportunity like the Children's Advocacy Centers are available. It is important to remember than is about 75 percent of valid child molestation cases, no physical evidence is available. Thus, it boils down to the word of a child against the word of an adult.

Before the Mondale Act took effect, this could be a difficult matter, but the federal government pushed states into easing the rules regarding the ability of someone being charged to face an accuser, which is one of the fundamentals of criminal law. Furthermore, to help children who testified to avoid trauma, the rules on hearsay evidence were loosened in these kinds of cases.

Thus, someone accused of child molestation has an uphill fight. In the aftermath of the Tonya Craft trial, it is easy to see that the prosecution's case was flimsy or even non-existent, yet Ms. Craft had to spend a half-million dolllars to fight the charges, and that money did not come close to covering the real costs of the defense.

What the prosecution did in this case was what it has done in a number of other child molestation cases in the district: trot out the "experts" at the CAC, who dutifully testify that the child in question "disclosed" this or that, and the guilty verdict is almost a given. Just ask Brad Wade and his family.

So, where does the federal fraud come it? Don't forget that the CAC and the LMJC receive federal dollars for their efforts. There really is a federal payout for pursuing such "crimes," and Buzz Franklin and his cohorts have aggressively sought this funding.

However, what if it is demonstrated that the prosecutors and the CAC "witnesses" are pursuing false cases or lying on the witness stand? Suddenly, we can see that they are engaging in financial fraud, federal style. Furthermore, most federal criminal laws don't even require intent, or mens rea. (This is another example of how federal criminal law has eviscerated our legal rights, but that is a different post for a different topic.)

In other words, if the LMJC and the CAC are engaging in questionable legal activity in order to help snare federal dollars, they have committed fraud. Furthermore, because of the necessary meetings of individuals who are helping to pursue criminal cases, a federal prosecutor would not have to look far to find evidence of conspiracy, which, like fraud, also carries draconian penalties.

Then there would be the criminal charge of "conspiracy to deprive Tonya Craft of her civil rights to a fair trial" and beyond. In other words, should a U.S. attorney choose to investigate this case -- and I have my doubt that the feds will launch such an investigation -- there is plenty to find.

Moreover, there is the attack by Sandra Lamb on Eric Echols, complete with racial epithets, which might interest a federal prosecutor as a "hate crime." Since she violated federal law in refusing to accept a legally-ordered subpoena, Ms. Lamb could be facing some legal problems of her own.

To put it another way, I have scratched the surface of real-live criminal behavior by the authorities and their allies in the Tonya Craft case. There is much more, but for now I think we can concentrate on the few ideas I have listed.

138 comments:

Robert L. PA-C
said...

One can only hope that this is investigated by a dispassionate Federal investigator. I understand the likelihood of this is low however. In my wildest dreams those "in ca hoots" will be doing Federal prison time, which usually has no provisions for parole or early release.

No the feds will not investigate nor really do anything. I like playing the race card here with Ms. Lambs behavior, and not knowing the area, hey it might work if say big wigs in Washington were telling locals, WE need to some hate crime victims. The bottom line? The only way to get rid of these clowns is the ballot box. As far as the false accusers go, they'll have to live with the mess they have made of their lies and life. Seeing Ms. LAmb's interview yesterday on the net, when she said she was still sending her child to those people at the center made me think the best thing that could happen is they "find" the abuse was really coming from her. I know stupid, but one can hope. They'll need someone new to get their money now and her and folks like her would be perfect.

Wow, let's just hope and pray that the federal authorities will indeed investigate. What bothers me the most is that in the future, real molestors may go free, because of the actions of all those mentioned. Citizens who serve on future juries, unless there is very compelling evidence may decide the prosecution lied before, so maybe they are again. These people have truly done more to undermine the safety and well being of the children in our area, than all the sex offenders combined! Sad, that it always comes down to money.

There is a little hope though. Child molestors don't just decide in their mid thirties to become a molestor. There is almost always a history and if we have good, intelligent detectives, they will find that history. More than likely they will also have porn, videos, etc. in their home, also a good detective should be able to find that information. They should also be able to find other victims, than the one or ones who come forward, they are almost always out there.

Perhaps, also we can hope that DFCS and the CAC might just learn from this and get truly qualified people to interview children in the proper manner,so they can ascertain if they are telling the truth or not. And, let's not forget well trained SANE's and doctors, who know what is normal and abnormal in an exam.

Others, who were railroaded in the same way Tonya Craft was, are beginning to speak out. I know that WRCB had a segment on one of these people, but I suspect there are many, many others who because of the very same players faced the same treatment as Tonya. I wish there was some kind of way to gather all of these folks together to show the vastness of the fraud perpetrated, however, I believe that many of these people, who have already been targeted, may fear further retribution. Buzz Franklin is one of those players and he has been the DA since 1997. Can you even imagine how many people have been falsely accused of child abuse in 13 years that pled out or are serving jail time? It just boggles the mind.

Trish,I have thought about what you have said before...No, someone doesn't decide to be a child molestor in their mid-thirties. T.C. had NO porn in her home, and her past students range in age from...probably eight years old to twenty-two! Where were the past victims?? NO ONE outside of the "clique" came forward...

According to Sheriff Summers, there were more child "victims" in this case besides the 3 that actually took the stand. According to him, the parents decided not to put their children through the ordeal of appearing in court. I forget the number of children he said, but I believe he said it to be 6. I wonder if there were other children, were they in this same clique. I also wonder if these parents were badgered into getting their children involved like the defense witness, Ms. Walker, I think. Remember the child who said that nothing happened, yet one of the accuser's parents kept calling her to press her to take her back for MORE interviews?

When you can sit there and WATCH the "NO" votes rolling like a speedometer (The poll question: "Should Tonya Craft regain custody of her children?")...It was obvious someone/ones were sitting at the computer voting again and again and again. Overnight the poll swung from 60/40 to 40/60 percent against Tonya. That was nearly 900 "no" votes with no additional "yes" votes just overnight...Question...Is it their intent to sway public opinion or the opinion of the judge by the "perceived" poll numbers? I call on the Times to make their poll ONE VOTE ONLY!

Kaye,It's a small town. Even if the "other's" weren't mentioned in court, their names would have circulated at the ballfields and ended up on Anderson's blog. I understand small town gossip more than you know. Trust me, if the names aren't going around, there is nobody else. But remember, she has only spent a fragment of her teaching career in that "Neck of the Woods". Chattanooga has better things to do than conduct child molestation "fund raisers"...

When I say other victims, I mean from the past, not a part of the same contrived accusations. As anon. 7:31 said, she has taught school for many years and her oldest students would be old enough to come forward if there had been any previous molestation.

You are so right Trish, her oldest students are adults now. I think we can all agree that these accusations were beyond the realm of logic! But then we discover that this really wasn't a "witch hunt" at all, it was only meant to be a "fund raiser". This only proves that money IS "the root of ALL evil."

Mr. Anderson, about twenty years ago a good friend of mine was accused of "touching" his 14 yo daughter. To make a long story short, the judge in his case told him that if he would plead guilty, he would only receive probation. Well, my innocent friend told the judge in no uncertain terms that he would NOT plead guilty to a crime he did not commit. Bring on the jury. There was no physical or emotional evidence in this case, so at the end of the trial, the judge "reminded" the jury that in the state of Georgia, there need be no evidence at all, that only the word of a child age 14 or younger is enough to convict. Well, of course my friend received 10 years with no possibility of parole. I was afraid during Tonya's trial that House would do the same thing and she would be convicted because of the little girl's words. Thank God she wasn't. BTW, in my friends case, his daughter came forward a couple of years later (after not being able to sleep for years) and told the judge that she made up the whole story in order to get her dad out of the house. She thought she could live with her mother only and they would just make the dad move out! Anyway, the same trial judge's words to her were "too bad, he was convicted by a jury of his peers and his sentence will stand". Unbelievable at best and criminal at worst!

A researcher who will go nameless for now has been looking into the issues with the other three, and so far what this person has found is that the so-called victims and their parents were even less credible than what was presented in court.

It is important to note that there were peripheral issues involving the parents of the three children who testified that fall into the "motive" category. For example, Sandra Lamb admitted that she told Mrs. McDonald that she had information about alleged drug use.

Keep in mind that Mrs. McDonald is an emergency room nurse, and even allegations of drug use can be devastating to one's career in that field. Because of the circle of relationships that exist in Catoosa County among people of authority, there will be no investigation into such allegations involving Mrs. McDonald, but nonetheless Lamb was saying she had the power to destroy Mrs. McDonald's livelihood unless she joined in the circle of accusers.

I will tell you flat out that there is much to be investigated. This was a much more choreographed event than I had realized at the start. Like a lot of other people, I first believed that it was just a situation of overzealousness, and that the parents of the children really believed that such abuse had occurred.

I no longer believe that, nor do I believe that anyone from the CAC, the police, or the prosecutor's office really believed Tonya Craft had molested anyone. Yes, these are very serious allegations, but I believe that by the time my researcher and I have gone through the evidence available to us, we are going to be able to make a very strong case for what I just declared.

You can see just how craven the judges are in these situations. I have seen case after case in which this is true, but judges simply don't care.

The USA has five percent or less of the world's population and a quarter of the world's incarcerated people, more than any nation in the world, including China and India, both of which have more than a billion people living within their borders.

We did not get to this situation by accident. Both liberals and conservatives have teamed to make this country "Prison Nation," and I think the Tonya Craft situation is just one example of how the "justice" system in this country has gone so far off the rails that I don't believe it can be salvaged.

Thank you, Mr. Anderson for being relentless in your research. It's about time that this "clique" in Catoosa County found out that they are no longer in high school and that as such, they are no longer allowed to run things.

Phil Summers might want to watch his pathetic mouth. Slander is a nasty thing and is grounds for a civil suit by Ms. Craft. And let's be honest, if the state thought other kids were involved, they would have forced their cooperation. According to 3 Job Jerry, he was told he would be charged w/obstruction of justice if he and his family did not cooperate.

Do you think criminal defense attorneys don't have immunity for what they say in a courtroom? If you changed the law for prosecutors, it would soon hit defense attorneys as well. One of the problems in this country is the more laws that are passed, the more lawless we seem to become.

I know this is way off subject, but in a way, it speaks of people's character.

While listening to WGOW this morning, I heard of a "news story" that Channel Slime had ran. It was regarding the changing of Marion County's graduation day by one day out of respect for a student who had passed away & his funeral service was held the day of the original graduation day. Well, NCslime interviewed several parents & students who were outraged by the Superintendent's decision to change the ceremonies until the next day. These people were raising more hell than satan himself. One of the students said, "I've been planning this for 13 years & for them to take it away...!" One parent said, "we sent out invitations & we have people coming from 3 states!" This small group of people (& I use the word people very loosely), were so angry. yelling, crying.

Their behavior & actions just sent me into the 3rd level of dislike! It made me think about the character of the people who accused Tonya & the state's supporters who completely went off the deep end. What are we teaching our children? Who are these people? Do they really exist? Oh my gosh, they do exist & they are scary!

I know it takes all kinds, but when are we going to go back to "old school" living & teaching?

J.R. said something that I won't repeat & Jeff Styles called them bitches! They nailed these people. Of course these people have probably never listened to talk radio.

Sorry for falling off subject, but once again we see how people have no character, have taught their children to have no character & these are the same type of people who cost Tonya a good portion of her life. Man I'm really starting to not like people!!!

I do not live in Chattanooga but have friends that live in CC and have all of their life. They watched the trial, blogs, media, etc just like the rest of us here. They told me that if the jury had come back with a quilty verdict they were getting the hell out of there, selling the homeplace and moving to Chattanooga. It really did scare the wits out of them to think back when their child was growing up and how someone could have said something and it could have been them in Tonya's shoes. I am curious what impact this has been on the real estate in that area. Folks in this area generally know where that will consider TN or GA. However, in the last 20 years or so, people with small children were moving across the stateline to be in a district that had excellent schools. We also had teachers leaving the Hamilton County School District to teach in Georgia because the salaries were much better. If I were TN resident teaching in LMJD, I get the hell out of there. Wonder how many will resign. It would be interesting to see some fallout data in a couple of years. Sorry for the ramble.

Anon. 8:57 As you said, nothing to do with this blog, but while I understand your feelings, consider this. The invitations for graduation were sent out anywhere from two to four weeks ago. Yes, people have made plans, motel reservations for out of town family, maybe reservations for graduation trips, etc. I agree, they as always picked the "cream" of the crop to interview, but I am sure they aren't the only people upset. While I commend the reasons the superintendent made the change, I think it was wrong. After all there are I am sure well over 100 students and family members affected by this change. My heart truly aches for the family that has suffered such a tremendous loss, but to look at it from a different perspective, why didn't they have the funeral earlier in the day or on Friday? I am sure they weren't thinking about when graduation was, but it is a thought. Also, being that graduation is at 4:00 in the afternoon, which personally I find an odd time, I am sure parents have had to ask off from work and many places require you to ask off well in advance of the day you want off, so it may not be easy for some people to have Friday instead of Thursday off. Just some thoughts.

My point is the anger & selfishness. I think the superintendent made the right decision & there are actually more people in that community who supported his decision. In fact, at graduation, the majority of the students held up his football #. I asked my 15 year old this morning how she would feel. She said, "mom, the boy that died deserves that respect. He was a part of that school & I would have been mad if they wouldn't have postponed graduation."

My point is the lack of compassion & these people who were so upset were in a great minority.

I think about when I lived in New Orleans & how everything changed after Katrina. I had a niece & a nephew who were just beginning their senior year. My niece ended up living in Philadelphia, MS & graduated from a high school there & my nephew ended up graduating from a school in Baton Rouge. When circumstances arise, we must teach our children compassion & respect for others & if it means changing something by 24 hours, then so be it. Hell, my daughter got sick on my wedding night & we postponed our honeymoon by 1 1/2 days. Did I get mad & raise hell, nope, we went with the flow. That is what's wrong in our society. The idea of entitlement. What if it were 3 kids who were killed? What if a tornado had hit? Their reaction would have been the same and to me, it's sad.

Ah, old Scoggins, just doing her job. The victim/witness program is bunk in this area. They only "help" who they choose to help. I simply wanted to know the release date of the guy who raped me & they never returned my calls or emails. I wanted this to take the proper steps to protect myself & my family. I actually had better luck going through a fellow with the state years prior. He kept me abreast of parole hearings & his movement from facility to facility. He left the department & after that I counted on the GA DOC site for info. The federal victim/witness program runs a lot smoother. When I was in a bank which was robbed, I received a letter from the feds after a week. Can't say the same for our district.

The county victim/witness program never paid my hospital bill, which still sits on my credit record. I will not pay it EVER! The bill was handed over to the DA's office, per their request, right after I received it. The victim/witness program only serves who they want to serve & we can all tell by Scoggins' recent display towards channel 3 how she chooses who she helps. Also in the article she says she only gets upset when things don't go the prosecution's way. Really? What if the prosecution is wrong? Hmmmmmm.

I would like to ask everyone with a female in their family to talk to them about being careful & being safe. It only took one minute for me to be kidnapped from a gas station & my life was forever changed. I was blessed with Divine Intervention & my physical life was saved, not everyone is so lucky. There is a rapist who walks the streets of Catoosa County now. He had committed these acts 3 times before he finally served 15 years. He is out & it could happen to any of our families. So take a few minutes & have "the talk", it's not comfortable, but needed.

A federal investigation involving men and women assigned to this area probably won't garner much more than 'sour grapes' of a defense attorney who didn't like the locals. However, if they bring in the 'Yankee' feds, those from Washington DC, that might actually do some good. Why do I say that? Well, folks around here hate those from 'away' or who don't live in the area. Those folks don't understand how things are done. They take things the 'wrong' way. But that's just what we need, in addition to a concerted effort to find well-qualified people to run against the good old boy network and break up the scum inhabiting our prosecutor's office. Yeah, there are probably good people working for him, even if they say in public they support his memo. Remember, they need a job, too. Out of work prosecutors who showed disrespect for the boss by telling the world he dashed off that memo to shut up the local media and bring the rabble into line won't have much finding a job in any lawyer's office.I guess my point is that we have to take both options. That the federal investigation, if it happens, comes from agents that don't know this area. And that we exercise our power of the vote and clean house. (Pun intended.)

Am I the only one bothered by this Facebook comment from Detective David Lee Scroggins (who is a friend of Judge Brian House)?

"The team took another bad guy off the streets tonight. He was previously convicted for stat rape and providing obscene material to kids. He drove up from atl to meet two little girls. He brought us beer and cherry vodka. It's Good to be part of this Task Force. Good to be me."

As a mom, I am all for getting child predators off the streets. I am not taking issue with that. It is the arrogance and boasting of these so-called professionals that bothers me. As we have seen with Tonya, facts are altered and misrepresented by these officials. I just find a post such as distasteful. Detectve Scroggins sounds just like Len, The Man, Gregor... "Good to be me."

Mr. Anderson,My own honest opinion is that the courts of the LMJC, the officers of the courts (meaning practicing attorneys as well as the prosecution), and the day to day activities of these folks do fall in the realm of not only criminal behavior, but operate to deprive the residents of the LMJC of their constitutionally guaranteed rights to equal protection under the law.

This is a repost, and I will repost until Mr. Anderson requests I stop. In order to achieve justice, citizen action is needed, and the only way to do it is by writing the appropriate authorities regularly and consistently.

As a citizen residing within the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, I am writing to see about the possibility of the Georgia State Attorney General's Office, and the U.S. DOJ Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee coordinating with the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia for investigating and prosecuting the official misconduct of the officers of the Court in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, as being a pattern and practice to deprive the citizens of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit of their constitutional rights to fair trial. This pattern and practice extends not only within the criminal prosecutions conducted within the circuit, but civil actions as well, as all four Judges, Judge Wood, Judge Graham, Judge Van Pelt, and Judge House have destroyed so many families by their behaviors and practices. When is the law going to be FOR the people, and not the officers of the Court? For the purpose of Section 242, acts under "color of law" include acts not only done by federal, state, or local officials within the their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official's lawful authority, if the acts are done while the official is purporting to or pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties. Persons acting under color of law within the meaning of this statute include police officers, prisons guards and other law enforcement officials, as well as judges, care providers in public health facilities, and others who are acting as public officials. It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by animus toward the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of the victim. Authorities: 18 U.S.C. SECTION 242 The Government must prove four elements to establish the offenses performed by the Defendants. First: The person upon whom the alleged acts were committed must have been an inhabitant of a state, district or territory of the United States. Second: The defendant must have been acting under color of law.Third: The conduct of the defendant must have deprived the victim of some right secured or protected by the Constitution of the United States. Fourth: The defendant must have acted willfully, that is, with a specific intent to violate the protected constitutional right.

I urge all of you to act promptly and diligently to see justice is served for the citizens of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.

Sincerely, ________________________

Include your name and address below your signature.

This can be used as a form letter. Feel free to copy, paste and mail 3 letters. For less than two dollars you can make in investment that will help your family guarantee that no one suffers incompetence and corruption in the name of justice, like Tonya Craft has had to go through.

Wow! Again, a public servant talks about a case on FB. They are breaking a cardinal rule by doing this. My friends with the police & sheriff's dept in Chattanooga & Hamilton County never, I mean never, post anything about cases, arrests, accidents..... NEVER! Yes I do talk to these people in private regarding situations, but they know better than to ever do this. It could & would cost them their jobs. This kid who he posted about can bring this up. Our local "to catch a predator" has already been proven to be a farce. They have been posting using adult ages & descriptions, then they arrest people for soliciting minors. Why in the world, when there are so many real criminals, are they wasting our money on this??????

I saw that about Scroggins & now have his FB page saved because it may help my husbands case. Good thing too his page is now locked. That ass sat on my couch & told me "one way or another I'm gonna get that computer so you can either give it to me now or I'm gonna get a warrant" Should have made him get a warrant. 2 dark haired detectives stood in my driveway near my kids at the same time & I think one was Deal.

Do you know where or when the video of Sandra Lamb assaulting the investigator serving papers is available?

Also, thank you for highlighting one of the problems with the US Criminal Justice system... we flat out send too many people to prison. For a system that touts 'innocent until proven guilty' we sure do seem to stack the odds against the accused. I primarily blame the war on drugs, but overzealous prosecutors with political ambitions such as those involved here are heavily to blame as well.

Sheriff Summers was just throwing chit at the wall in a manner that does not open him up to liabilities that could arise if he uses specific names of alleged victims and assigns guilt when using them.

Leaving out such details, as he did, was an effort to create the perception of imaginary crimes in the minds of those who wanted a guilty verdict and to make all within his department appear to be heroes.

To refute his claim one must drag names of children into the debate, which he knew was not likely to happen.

The state has the authority to subpoena in any witness they want, so the decision to NOT call in any other alleged victims was made by the state, not the parents.

The defense would have welcomed the alleged victims he is referring to, and it would have just made their case for not guilty much stronger.

Dan@ 11:32 AM, Your post re the DOJ public integrity section is interesting, Ms Sally Quillian Yates of the US Attorney's office conducted several successfull prosecutions against State and Local officials in the Atlanta area on public corrption charges. Generally the US attorney's office will focus on issues involving conspiring to commit honest services mail and wire fraud as well as to structuring financial transactions involving federal funds.

This may include manipulating evidence and witnesses in local programs receiving Federal funds for investigation, prosecution and adjudication of targeted crimes where the funds filter through DOJ programs. The more details we can uncover regarding the Federal funds being received by the LMJC for these programs the closer these issues can be audited and analyzed. Next step is to review the 4 LMJC county Sheriff's Dept. budgets, as well as the LMJC's budget, and see how the money is funneled to the LMJC, the DA's office, and the sheriff's Depts. I've worked as an auditor, I'd love to see some of these documents.

Just wanted to warn everyone around downtown LaFayette (and the rest of you can stop laughing, it really is a downtown area just small!) that I saw NCSlime's car cruising along Main Street about noon. Southbound. No stories at the courthouse that I know of and it was recessed for lunch anyway. No idea who they were coming to see but I can take a pretty good guess.

Lookout spy,I'm not aware if Catoosa is or isn't, but in my county the "crimes against children" division is funded by the state. Although they work out of the sheriffs office, they get paid by the state. I only found this out when I was sitting in shackles awaiting my bond hearing. Before the judge entered, the LT. informed us that if we choose to run he would personal "kick are Asses" all the way back the the county jail. Where he was paid by the state not the county. He did not like my smirk but seeing as I had no criminal record he had to keep his mouth shut during the hearing. These funds transfer thru many hands hope it can be found out.

Regarding the story on the "graduation date moved", Slime was asked to come back & talk to the majority of the students, parents & community who supported the Superintendent's decision. They have not & will not go back. Basically, they exploited a teenage boy's death. I spoke to a friend earlier who was there when the family turned off the ventilator. How sad to be this family & one of our local "news" stations exploited his passing as something that "angered a community".

May you rot in hell Channel 9. I'm sure you will see HAG, Buzz, Deal, Lamb, the McDonalds, Wilsons & many more when you get there. Have fun at the bbq!

I cannot say that I agree with moving a graduation date due to the death of a student. I cannot say I disagree. What I can say is that it would have been more appropriate to hold the graduation the same day it was originally scheduled, but later in the day so as to allow the funeral to take place. There was a student in my graduating class who died in a car crash just a month before graduation, and at a school where I taught a student was a pedestrial who was struck and killed by a SUV a couple of weeks before graduation. In both cases the funeral took place days before the graduation, but what was done at graduation was very moving. In both cases the student's parent received their child's diploma to a standing ovation. I think that would have been the best way to honor the young man.

As for the way thing are developing with the Craft case, Mr Anderson, let me know if you want me to send links to the articles I have cited/discussed with regards to physical examinations of possible sex abuse victims. I'd like to help here. I may live in Utah, but this case effects all Americans. There was a similar situation, sort of, at a school where I briefly taught here in Utah, where a male drama teacher was accused of having kinderporn on his school computer. As it turns out, it wasn't porn at all, but pictures from some spam advertisement that one of his student helpers had viewed when opening a spam email. The teacher was the one who found it and took his computer to the IT guy, whom I know to be a serious prude--most mormons are over the top prudish about sex, which is quite ironic considering their 'prophet' teaches that you have to have at least six children in order to make it into heaven. Anyway, when the teacher gave him the computer he just said somethign to the effect, "there's spam and spyware on the computer, and I need you to get it off," and didn't mention the pictures, probably because he didn't see them himself--they were in the cache. The IT guy sees the pics and turns it over to the police. The DA somehow got wind of this, and the DA had a long-standing feud with the teacher here, and thought this a perfect opportunity to get back at him. So, with no real investigation, the DA has the teacher arrested on charges of possessin kinderporn, and then goes to the media and gives them a very inaccurate, sensationalized account of the situation. Parents are outraged, we teachers were called out of class for a meeting, the teacher lost his job and his home defending himself, and like Craft, he was ultimately vindicated when his lawyer was able to prove that it wasn't him but a student who opened the spam emails (from the kid's own email account), that he was the one who brought the computer to them, that he didn't know of the pictures, and that the pictures did not in-fact constitute kinderporn. This guy was an amazing teacher, and although I only worked with him for a few weeks before his life was ruined, I knew him to be a stand-up guy. He was put through hell by a corrupt district attorney, as the result of a "slip-shod" investigation. In the end the teacher moved back in with his parents in California and quit teaching and the district attorney is still there. So, I'm sorry to say, but I have no confidence in our Federal Government to actually investigate the Craft case. Like someone else said several days ago, we'll only find out what really went on here when someone writes a book about this case in about five or ten years. By then, hopefully, the girls will be ready to come clean with the truth.

When can we expect to see anything happen here? Did it take this long in the Duke case? It seems like since this whole trial is on video and there are transcripts and everthing that we should be seeing some arrests - the trial has been over for a week. Why is it taking so long?

kbp, the gag order would not have applied to Scoggins since she does not work for the DA's office, and her position as a part of the board of the CAC does not put her in position as part of the case. The gag order only applied to those people who were involved in the case. Just fyi. A position on the board of directors is too remote to connect someone to a gag order.

Anon 3:38, it is taking so long because NOTHING is going to happen... the Feds aren't going to do anything because the prosecutors were doing their jobs.

And go ahead, blast me all you want. But think about what everyone would have said if the case hadn't have been prosecuted and 3 kids had made allegations that were never investigated? Everyone would be screaming about why the case wasn't pursued! This office was damned from the start- damned if they didn't prosecute and damned if they did.

I also heard on the Atlanta news that Echols, ECHOLS, not the DAs, is the one looking at Federal charges.

Kaye,Why would any parent who truly believed their child may have been molested NOT come forward??SERIOUSLY, Mr. Summers?? Do you REALLY expect us to buy this crap?The thought of the sheriff stating there are more, makes me think Sandra Lamb likely told him that she could pobably get more people to accuse Tonya of molestation. i may be wrong... but I would bet money on it because she is that confidant that people will do whatever she asks of them.

Lame, I have to disagree. It is a very small community & the vast majority commends the Superintendent for making the decision. There are only a little over 100 students graduating & there are only a handful complaining. Some people just like to complain & have taught their children to be reactive rather than proactive. If these people stopped for one second & put themselves in that family's shoes, this would not even be an issue. People stopped caring about others & that is what is wrong with our country. Yes, people finally stood up & cared enough about Tonya, but do they really see the bigger picture? How many are going to let things fall by the wayside? Too many. One thing in this life is that everyone can not be pleased. When it's a true minority who feels "done wrong", then boo hoo, that is life, pull yourself up by your boot straps & make the best of the situation. You never know, if this Superintendent prayed about this & has peace with it, then there is probably a Greater reason. God is in control. Expect the unexpected & always put yourself in someone's shoes before you start spouting off. (that is for the few who were ugly & not you)

Keep in mind, people, that we did NOT have a situation in which "the children came forward." That was not the case. Instead, the children were interviewed and badgered for almost a year before anything like that was said, and even then the children were not acting like children who had been sexually molested.

The DAs were not doing their jobs. They brought charges that never would have seen the light of day had Brian House not been in on the whole thing. Look at the material that the prosecutors fought to have kept out of evidence. That alone should tell you that they understood from the beginning that this was not a real child molestation case.

Furthermore, look at the behavior of Sandra Lamb. Channel 3 is going to be running footage of her that does not exactly go with her so-called good image. Enjoy.

And, I don't think for a second that Eric Echols is going to be facing federal criminal charges. Not gonna happen.

Scoggins actually did fall under the gag order as she was on the potential witness list for the prosecution. Regardless, her comments made to channel 3 were after the trial & during the trial, she would have been allowed to view any media she liked, just not speak to them. The only people ordered to not view media were the jurors.

These guys and thier facebook postings amaze me. This from Tim"raw" Deal's favorite quote:"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. Friedrich Nietzsche - German Philosopher"Two things about this really gets me. 1. He also states his religion to be Christian/Baptist. The writings of Nietzsche in no way can be in line with the Christian faith and were considered at the time and forever be blasphemous.2. And the most comical. If you have ever seen the TV show Criminal Minds about a crack group of FBI agents flying around the country on a private jet always getting their man using only quotes from dead philosophers. This quote is one they really like to use!My question is does Tim Deal really read and study the works of Nietzsche?That would be a huge problem(I don't think he has the time with he facebook and craigslist entrapment endeavors) Or did he hear the words spoken on TV and think WOW they are talking about me Super-Genious FBI task force predator cacther.PS Nietzsche went insane and died at 56

Anon 3:38. It seems like it's taking forever but remember, the verdict was only a week and a half ago. Prior to this, there was nothing those investigative agencies could do other than observe the trial and hope for the best outcome. For them to jump in and arrest immediately is just as bad as what those people in LMJD did. And don't think those people wouldn't use that against any charges brought. Taking their time will give any agency investigating this what they need to make sure nothing ends up tossed out in a potential trial.And yeah, it is frustrating seeing those men and women continuing to work. The power of prayer will help in this as we think of the children being harmed by their arrogance and hope for the federal/state machines to move a bit faster but in this, I hope they have everything in place before they make their move.

Amen KC! Patience is a virtue for a reason & we all need to keep faith & hope alive. Everything will happen in due time, whether it be sooner or later. I've seen cases where the feds have stepped in for a lot less and when you mess with "their" money, they can find all kinds of ways to make things stick. I think kbp said it earlier about the mail & wire fraud, that is exactly one of the angles I believe they will go for.

Keep praying & God will be just. Plus, I also believe the people involved with this farce are truly living in their own hell right now. They might not let us see it, but those are usually the people who are hiding the most pain.

What part of I,(insert name here)do swear that I will faithfully and impartially, and without fear, favor, or affection, discharge my duties as (insert title)... did you not comprehend when you signed that oath?

Further, whatever excuses you tender or misdirections you offer to deflect blame, won't stop a Federal investigation. Even if the feds decide not to pursue, the little dose of sunshine your office received as a result of this case won't stop shining on you. I would start looking for something with a high SPF.

"Diana Kennedy Ellis: More of the Tonya Craft Story. Listen to and call in on Talk Radio 102.3 tomorrow morning from 10am to 11am. Eric Echols (Tonya's private investigator, who was arrested for doing his job on her case) will be on with Kevin West."

@ 3:59 PM - but this case DID get national media attention and still NOTHING! I have not heard a single legal expert other than this blog say anything about what these people have done wrong and I don't understand why!! Did the national media take this long in the Duke case? How long did it take for that DA to get de-barred?

ANON 11:37 - the more disturbing thing about that story (Det. Scoggins) is that where at one time I would have immediately assumed the man was guilty. however, after reading the story about the man (sorry, I do not know his name) who was ENTRAPPED talking to a girl he believed was 19. She confessed she was underage and he tried to cut off all contact. She continued to persue him and told him she was going to meet another man at a certain time. Concerned for her safety, he simply drove by the place she specified and was arrested. he didn't do anything but I think got 10 years! So....I don't know if I believe Mr. Good to be Me - and that is scary because not everyone is innocent. Maybe this guy really was coming up for bad intentions, but maybe he was just at the wrong palce at the wrong time. While I believe MOST of the men on the Dateline shows etc. are up to no good when they go to these young girls homes - You also have to wonder (and I'm not knocking NBC, but I know the police dept does similar stings). First, are they SURE the men KNOW the girls are underage and two - if they weren't dangling the carrot, would these men ALWAYS bite if given the chance? Sometimes I don't agree with these stings. At Gunbarrel Wal-Mart around Christmas, police set a pocketbook on top of a car trunk as if a person left it. If a citizen took the pocket book in the store - they put the pocketbook back out. If a person took the pocketbook, they were arrested. Now, do you think those people ALL set out to still a pocketbook that day? Probably not. It is scary to me what the police do at times.

Keep in mind that another reason this is taking time is that Tonya has to pay $21,000 to obtain the transcripts from the trial or there is no evidence. These agencies will want to SEE what was done without having to do a lot of foot work up front.

Anonymous said... 4:59 PM" @ 3:59 PM - but this case DID get national media attention and still NOTHING! I have not heard a single legal expert other than this blog say anything about what these people have done wrong and I don't understand why!! Did the national media take this long in the Duke case? How long did it take for that DA to get de-barred?"

In the Duke case, there were hundreds of complaints filed at the bar and when testimony at a hearing finally revealed Mike Nifong was responsible for altered records from the lab that did the DNA testing, the state bar stepped forward.

There have not been the same number of complaints, nor such detailed evidence of rights violations in this case.

At first glance, I was disappointed with WRCB's coverage of the story about Mr. Echols, but then I reread WRCB's tweet and tonight was only the preview of the upcoming story. Cannot wait to hear him talking to Kevin West on WGOW tomorrow. I got to hand it to Kevin West and WRCB, they both are stepping up to the plate to give exposure to this story!

Ha ha, people are talking about patience. One of my favorite quotes is: "Patience is a virtue that nobody has time for."

As for entrapment, I have a friend from high school who was given 10 years for meeting with an underage girl. It was almost the same as the above-described case--she contacted him, he thought she was of age, he never even said the word sex, she suggested they meet, it turned out to be an undercover cop, he never said sex or intended to have sex, but because he was lonely and was hoping to meet someone (she NEVER said she was 14--no question was ever asked about her age), because he actually went to meet her, busted! and 10 years in the slammer. I understand that there really are people out there who take advantage of kids, but to entrap someone like that is truly despicable.

Anonymous said... 3:46 PM"kbp, the gag order would not have applied to Scoggins since she does not work for the DA's office, and her position as a part of the board of the CAC does not put her in position as part of the case. The gag order only applied to those people who were involved in the case. Just fyi. A position on the board of directors is too remote to connect someone to a gag order.

It won't matter, the trial is over, nobody complained evidently and nobody would cite her for contempt of court anyway, but

...the reason I stated such is that I was under the impression she runs the victim assistance program. Even as a CAC board member, to say the gag order would not have included her is like saying the officer with a desk next to Deal's is not covered either.

6:36Yes, but when it comes to the officers of the court you have to prove it was their Intent. So it's better to have them disbarred because there was 22 days of tape showing how much of a farce this was.

@ the 6:30 PM anon, You cut class that afternoon when the difference between absolute and qualified immunity was discussed. Also, Mr., fyi, actions of a public official can be construed as being performed "absent jurisdiction."

In cases where a public officer of the courts, the law enforcement industry, a prison guard, or even a nurse in a public hospital, perform acts "out of jurisdiction", those orders, actions, and behaviors become personal actions undertaken by those parties outside the absolute shield of immunity afforded otherwise. For instance, a juror , if found to be in communication with a party outside the jury that has any interest in the case, can be charged with criminal contempt, violation of a sworn oath, and a whole slew of other charges. Once a law is broken, absolute immunity ceases to exist. Held many times many different ways all the way to the Supreme Court. I'll publish keycites if you like.

The "to catch a predator - Catoosa County style" has already been figured out. They didn't do what the Dateline features did. On the Dateline stories, they would admit they were underage & the guys would come on, some of them would go to many lengths. The problem with the CC version is they are not saying they are underage. They let on as if they were over 17 (the legal age in GA) & they are catching 19 year old males who, omg, for pete's sake, are horny 19 year olds. This is why, as a true rape victim, I despise the charge of statutory rape. I don't care if a 19 year old boy (and yes I said boy) has sex with his girlfriend who is 15-17. Trust me, that girl knows more & has more self-control than that boy. Then here come the parents of the girl. Oh my, that boy (I mean man) took advantage of my pure, innocent daughter. WHAM! The bars slam shut on a kid being a kid. Not only that, they have to register as sex offenders! Look up the CC sex offender list, then look at the ages of some of these kids who were charged with statutory rape. Rape is rape, it is not rape when it is consensual sex by 2 teenagers or dare I even say a 22 or 23 year old.

Trust me, I have a teenage daughter & nothing pains me more than thinking that she may have sex EVER. The age of maturity between males & females is different, but I can tell you this, if my daughter says ok to sex with a boy/man, then she has made that decision. I may hate it with all that I am, but she has been taught, has actually taken the purity pledge & knows yes from no, right from wrong. People need to quit taking up the space for true sexual predators & own up to their failures as parents. I can say that if my daughter chooses to have sex before she is married or at least the age of 18, then not only have I failed as a parent, then she has failed as being a strong female. I will take those lumps if need be, but I will be damned if she decides to have sex with someone over the age of 18, that I & she will have to suffer the consequences, not some horny guy.

Sorry, that detective's statement today boiled my blood & I would seriously hate to be a teenage boy in today's times. The old saying was....with a boy, you worry about 1 penis, with girls, you worry about all penis'. Not anymore, if you have a son, seriously talk to him about the ramifications of 1) dating girls under age & 2) knowing when to take the cold shower or take matters into his own hands.

Lookout Spy, you said it before I had a chance to. Yes, there is a level of immunity, but never, I mean never an absolute. That joker had it all wrong. It must be part of HAG+F trying to make it look like there was no chance in hell. But, oh, there is.

I know we live in a society that everything is fast, but somethings are better left to being handle slowly & efficiently. It's like a fine wine and needs to be handled with care. So everyone, slow down, but do not stop with the letter writing, the emails & researching. We have to take back our country. It took a long time to get us to this point, it will be a long road to get us back.

LOL. So true 8:15, I forgot about that part. Hard to believe that's what we have representing the "people". But don't forget, they gave such compelling evidence. Oh, and one time, at band camp, Len Gregor _______________. Just run with that one.

Not Len. Just a supporter of Tonya who believes that people who spew meanness like this are either (1) friends of people like Lamb just stirring things up, or (2) cut from the same cloth of hatred and spite.

Should be intetesting to see the evidence against Echols. Especially if he has recorded most of the encounters. By the way...the prosecution will say Echols talked to Jerry MacDonald, yet he said he never spoke to Mr. Echols under oath. Beforehand, his wife said he did talk to Echols on the stand, but was advised to not speak with him.

Anon 9:16I understand what you are saying and you're right, however, these ego maniacs read this blog and it's fun to give them a little of what they have dished out to so many people with absolute immunity.

They have dished it out for years, now they're going to have to take it.

Anon 7:49. There are always two sides to any story but I agree mostly with you about girls maturing faster than boys. Emphasis on mostly. We have a neighbor with a (for want of a better word) randy son who the mom always calls a saint. A few years back, at the ripe old age of 22, he started dating a girl but told her he was 19, knowing her dad would have never agreed to the relationship if he knew the guy's true age. Long story short, the idiot neighbor kid bragged about his 'exploits' in detail all around town. This very small town where everyone knows everyone else's business. And paid a very serious price in that the cops arrested him for child molestation along with several other charges, a total of 15. Now this kid, being the resourceful criminal type (I've caught him peering at our windows while we dressed - got thicker curtains after his mom got in my face that her little 'angel' would never do such a thing), he arranged a plea deal for stat rape and got probation. Running around the neighborhood free as a bird, driving drunk, threatening to kill his mom if she reported him, all that happy stuff. And none of us could turn him in because his mom laid a threat of damage to our homes if we did. (Yeah, we want to get rid of the Yankees but Detroit won't take them back) Happily, last December, this idiot kid wrecked his truck, by taking out my mailbox and scraping a few inches off a tree. End result? Probation revoked. He's sitting in the county jail until his sentence finishes. Does he regret lying to the girl in the first place, or help take of the child he fathered as a result of that relationship? Nope. Everything's everyone else's fault because they hate him. And his mom still blames the girl. I guess what I'm trying to say is that boys need to take that responsibility as much as girls. My youngest son has heard from his dad and I all about making sure he takes no chances with girls in that department, including wearing protection - since there are worse things than an STD, according to another son. They're called children and they'll always be there to take care of. If all kids learn this lesson young, we might have a chance to stop some of the charges going around. Sex for kids is forbidden fruit but they might see it the way we do if we show them the actual consequences.

Eric Echols is a professional, and I suspect he did nothing criminal. The prosecutors were trying to keep him out of the equation, and given their contempt for the law, they had him arrested.

My sense is that they will have to drop the charges or pay some real consequences. When the recording of Sandra Lamb calling him a "black bastard" actually appears on the air -- and it certainly will -- there will be some explaining to do at Buzz Franklin's office.

I too understand what you are saying. Right or wrong, I've taken my shots at all of them too under the theory that if they spent even five seconds the next day distractedly thinking and seething over some snarky comment rather than being able to concentrate fully on railroading Tonya, trying to justify what they had done, or else keeping up the attack on her (Sandra Lamb on WRCB for example), then I had done at least a little something to help throw them off their game. By the time this is all over and the LMJC is hopefully cleaned out, I hope to have done much more and in a more constructive manner, but in the near term, this is it. Sometimes fighting fire with fire is what it takes to put out a fire once and for all.

Honestly folks, it's fun to mock and make up pet names, what we really need to focus on are the facts and the issues. What it's gonna take for us to make something happen that's a plus, towards people feeling like they matter in the whole scheme of things?

If she has ability to start fire with her thoughts, it is no doubt because she has been eating too much of the hot chicken at Choo Choo. Way too much pepper on it. I read where they have toned it down, but I am not sure that is truth. Very hot chicken.

If she can start fire with her thoughts, it is probably because she has been eating the too hot chicken at Choo Choo. I read on here that spice has been toned down, but I haven't sampled it to verify. I know that I could definitely have started fire with my breath after eating it. Very hot chicken.

From www.romanewsbywatson.comAnecdote From Someone In Law Enforcement, about Candidate Chris Arnt:One day, Bobby Lee Cook and Chris Arnt, the young Assistant DA, who usually works cases in Catoosa County, happened to be arguing a case in Walker County Superior Court before Senior Judge Loggins. (He had, most likely, been appointed by BLC to serve for KCC).Anyway, Judge Loggins takes a break. Chris Arnt is sitting in front row of jury box, talking with other lawyers, court reporter, bailiff, whoever. The argument between counsel has been lively, and BLC’s feelings must have been hurt. He walks over to the rail in front of Chris and says something, Chris stands to be polite, BLC hits him in face, bailiff and Deputy Sheriffs close in on Cook, Cook’s body guard, Michael Mack, grabs one of the deputy sheriffs trying to stop the assault, and Mack is suppressed by two/three deputy sheriffs, who escort him to the jail, with his loud threats to he “honky” deputies, that “I works for Bobby Lee, ya’ll honky bastards are gonna be sorry.”As order is restored, Judge Loggins, who has been in chambers, returns to the bench to see what the hell is going on. He quickly is informed that Bobby Lee has again assaulted someone. At Judge Loggins order, the sheriff is ordered to release and bring Michael Mack back, so he can continue his good work as BLC’s bodyguard. Loggins dismissed the thing as a trivial thing that boys, and lawyers will sometimes do.Keep in mind, Judge Bo Wood is down the hall in his office, and Judge Ralph Hill is downstairs in their offices, yet they do nothing. They don’t report it either to the State Bar, nor the Judicial Qualifications Commission. That constitutes a violation by both judges of Canon 3D.(1) & (2) of Code of Judicial Conduct, for which they, along with Loggins, should have been sanctioned.Also, District Attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin has one of his assistants, attacked in open court, and he doesn’t think he should notify the bar? He obviously never readRule 8.3 Reporting Professional Misconduct(a) A lawyer having knowledge that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, should inform the appropriate professional authority.(b) A lawyer having knowledge that a judge has committed a violation of applicable rules of judicial conduct that raises a substantial questions to the judge’s fitness for office should inform the appropriate authority.Obviously, Buzz Franklin didn’t report BLC to the Bar, nor Loggins to the JQC, but more importantly, neither did CHRIS ARNT, THE ASSAULTEE. He’d make a good judge, he’s already intimidated.

to William Anderson:I live in Oregon and am very concerned about the Child Protective Service atrocities that are going on across the country. Several very capable people, like yourself, are blogging about these cases but I'm wondering why no one has started a movement directed at Congress to change federal laws to reduce the power that these people have.

The website, Free the Children by Bill Medvecky, posted another case today....a child taken to the ER with a head injury and CPS took custody of the child for a week while they investigated whether the parents were responsible. Then their excuse for their overreach was "we err on the side of the child."

Not only are these people destroying families, but they seem totally ignorant of the damage they are doing to the children.

I would think someone could involve one or more elected officials and make it a campaign issue to change the federal laws that govern Child Protective Services and their legal support group.

Bill, if you've been hacked, including elsewhere besides your blog, better consult an attorney. Who knows what trouble is in store. Don't underestimate anything that could happen in this part of the world. This is THE most Republican Congressional district in the U.S. of A., the next most right wing district I believe is east Texas.

Kelli does cut/color hair, but she's not licensed. Jerry had issues some time ago (and I'm not trying to sling mud or say that because he drank 15 years ago he's a child molester etc.- just stating what I know). I'm not sure if it was "drugs" but I know he drank a lot. He had serious emotional issues. Again, this was before he married Kelli. Not sure if Sandra was threatening HIM (maybe he's fallen off the wagon?) The last job I know of her having, she took mental leave once and the 2nd time she tried it they fired her - or were going to and she just never showed up again.

Ok please don't attack me but Choo Choo BBQ is getting a bad rap. They have excellent food and great customer service. If you choose not to eat there, that is your choice but I would like to stick to the points that matter! Mr. Beagle was kind enough to step up with his # so you can call him if you have a complaint. I am a firm believer in Tonya and I know in my heart this petty picking on third parties would greatly upset her. Let's concentrate on fixing the mess in the LMJD and the CAC. If you are going to post petty pot shots don't do it anonymously.

So, when do you think the national media will finally pick this up? Some people are telling me there is no corruption and that the defense is full of bull____. If there were anything any of this they say the national media would be tripping over themselves trying to get the story. They don't have to wait on the transcript because it is all right there on the video tape and in something they call the "clerk's file." I have no idea what that is. Not sure how to respond to them!

I love that comment about worrying about one penis with your son and all penii with your daughter. it reminds me of something I found to be true: It is easier to try to go out for the evening if you are a boy than if you are a girl. If you are a girl and ask to go out for the evening your dad will ask who you'll be with, where you're doing, if any boys will be there, what kind of adult supervision there will be, and the whole rest of the third degree. If you're a boy and ask to spend the evening out your dad will usually just say one thing to you: "Whatever you do, just don't get arrested."

I agree that most statutory rape laws are outrageously written. Florida is one of the worst. In florida even if she lies to you, even if she shows you a false ID, if she's more than one second under her 18th birthday and you're one second over yours, you're going to jail for five years and registering for life as a sex offender. There's a situation that happened a couple of years ago near Tampa where a girl who looked to be older than 18 was meeting guys on myspace and sleeping with them. She was lieing about her age. Some guy who found out her real age after sleeping with her told her father what happened, and that he needed to tell his daughter to stop what she was doing, because she was causing men to break the law. The father turned the guy in, and he's now in jail and so are two other men she lied to about her age. Meanwhile the father never punished his daughter, and she still continues to try to lure in men. In florida it is a statute that it is an inadmissable defense that the person over 18 does not know the true age, and even goes so far as to say that if the minor lies, even provides false ID, because the adult is an adult and the minor is a minor, no matter what the case, the adult is going to jail, PERIOD. Stupid, stupid, STUPID law. Are we supposed to require the woman to show us a notarized copy of her birth certificate before we try to go for second base?

It is such pure hypocracy to say that a 17 or 16 year old's brain is not developed enough to give consent and have sex when that same 16 year old WOULD be tried as an adult should they commit a capital offense. They try kids as young as 12 and 13 in Florida as adults. Just hypocracy, but then we're talkig about laws written by people whose only goal is not justice but rather the goal of increased control over the lives of ordinary citizens.

I love that comment about worrying about one penis with your son and all penii with your daughter. it reminds me of something I found to be true: It is easier to try to go out for the evening if you are a boy than if you are a girl. If you are a girl and ask to go out for the evening your dad will ask who you'll be with, where you're doing, if any boys will be there, what kind of adult supervision there will be, and the whole rest of the third degree. If you're a boy and ask to spend the evening out your dad will usually just say one thing to you: "Whatever you do, just don't get arrested."

I agree that most statutory rape laws are outrageously written. Florida is one of the worst. In florida even if she lies to you, even if she shows you a false ID, if she's more than one second under her 18th birthday and you're one second over yours, you're going to jail for five years and registering for life as a sex offender. There's a situation that happened a couple of years ago near Tampa where a girl who looked to be older than 18 was meeting guys on myspace and sleeping with them. She was lieing about her age. Some guy who found out her real age after sleeping with her told her father what happened, and that he needed to tell his daughter to stop what she was doing, because she was causing men to break the law. The father turned the guy in, and he's now in jail and so are two other men she lied to about her age. Meanwhile the father never punished his daughter, and she still continues to try to lure in men. In florida it is a statute that it is an inadmissable defense that the person over 18 does not know the true age, and even goes so far as to say that if the minor lies, even provides false ID, because the adult is an adult and the minor is a minor, no matter what the case, the adult is going to jail, PERIOD. Stupid, stupid, STUPID law. Are we supposed to require the woman to show us a notarized copy of her birth certificate before we try to go for second base?

It is such pure hypocracy to say that a 17 or 16 year old's brain is not developed enough to give consent and have sex when that same 16 year old WOULD be tried as an adult should they commit a capital offense. They try kids as young as 12 and 13 in Florida as adults. Just hypocracy, but then we're talkig about laws written by people whose only goal is not justice but rather the goal of increased control over the lives of ordinary citizens.

Sorry for the double post. Yeah. See, I consider my political identification as being "Classical Liberal." That means, most of my ideals fall along the lines of Enlightenment ideals. Freedom comes with responsibility. The God of Creation would never interfere with our free will. He wants us to do his will, to love him, to accept salvation, but he will not force us to do it. Similarly, the government derives its power, not from the masses, but from the consent of the governed. Over the past 100 or so years the governed has been duped by a series of popular movements. Remember the quote from William Randall Hearst, "I'll furnish the war, you furnish the reports." The media in many ways has collaborated with highly-elite elements within this nation to steer public opinion. One of those ways was the mass hysteria regarding paedophelia. Yes, there were and still are a lot of children who have been abused. I am not nor would I ever intend to deminish the suffering of REAL victims of child sexual assault, or any kind of sex crime. Yet, we have to keep in mind that politicians have used this hysteria not to do actual good but to increase their grip on the reigns of power. Some good has come out of it, but remember too that some good came out of the political machine bosses existant during the 1870s. It begs the question, does an act undertaken with bad intentions that produces some good results make the act justified? I say that it does not. What is needed is comprehensive reform of sex crime laws and how they are handled. A guy who has a dozen pictures of girls in bikinis is far less of a threat than a person who molests their child's friend. Yet, under current laws, the person with the photos could theoretically be sentenced to twelve times more time in prison. A good example of this is Kerrie Lyn Ferguson. This woman lives literally down the street from me. She was caught IN THE ACT by a police officer while having sex with her 15 year old daughter's friend. Ferguson was sentenced to 1 year in county jail, and is elligible for work release after just 39 days. She is not required to register as a sex offender, because she pled only to one count of "child abuse." On the other hand I read a recent article about a 14 year old girl who took racy (non-nude) photographs of herself and posted them on her myspace account for her boyfriend to see. She has been arrested and charged with producing kinderporn. If she is convicted she will have to go to jail for a minimum of 15 years and register as a sex offender for life. The media reports on this will not name the girl, because they do not give the names of sex crimes. So, she is both the perpetrator and victim, a 14 year old girl being tried as an adult for committing a crime against a minor, who happens to be herself. How are our children safer by leting a woman who seeks out and seduces 15 year old girls completely walk, with less than even a slap on the wrist when a girl who was just having some fun could potentially have the whole rest of her life ruined? The answer is that justice is not served. The only thing that it serves is the politicians' purpose of controling our lives.

Lame, I agree totally. Although the politicians have taken advantage of this for their own personal gain or for government to gain more power, the enabler in all of that is a willing public who almost begs to have their rights taken away by their knee-jerk reactions and lack of rationale thought on certain subjects, with anything sexual being one of them. As one might expect, Georgia seems to lead the pack in some of the craziness when it comes to poorly conceived and written laws that for the most part have just served to ensnare people, many in their teens, who are guilty of perhaps making a bad decision but certainly nothing criminal. So-called "crimes" and punishment have become big business with lots of $$$ to be had and we see this in our drug laws and the sex crimes hysteria.

As an aside, the other recent case of House's that has been getting some media attention is the guy who he sentenced to 20 years for supposedly enticing a 14 year old girl by responding to a Craig's List ad. Serious questions about whether the guy was a victim of police entrapment aside, whether you believe the State's version of the story, or his version, what is undisputed is that the guy never was in the physical presence of a minor, never in the physical presence with anyone actually, and was in his vehicle when arrested.

I'm not a person who resents every single dime of taxes I have to pay, etc. but I do have problems with my tax money going to pay for crazy stuff like this. I haven't read the latest number, but several years ago, it was something like $40,000+ a year to keep someone in a Georgia prison. So, assuming this guy has to serve his full term, which granted he probably won't, the taxpayers are looking at a MILLION DOLLAR tab to keep somebody locked away who actually did no actual harm to anyone, not to mention the damage to his family, loss of productivity to society, etc. That just doesn't make sense. More telling these is he was offered a 5 year plea deal which he refused because he felt he wasn't guilty of anything. In my opinion, the draconian sentence was House's message about what happens to anyone who dares to challenge the LMJC's idea of justice.

I am in no way trying to defend anyone that has taken the State's side, however...we keep mentioning Vickie Scoggins being on the Board of the CAC per her FB page. I'm no genius, but her likes and Interests does not say she is a board member it says.... Likes and Interests:Activities: Board of directors, Children's Advocacy Center

There is a comma there...if you click on Board of Directors it's just a page anyone can "like"...same as the CAC. And I can say without a doubt I think it's sad there are only 11 people that "like" the CAC page. That to me, speaks volumes.....tplas

I will check somewhere other than FB to try and find a list of the board members, I may be wrong! I just think someone saw the words and ran them all together....

Honestly, being on the Board of the CAC isn't as glamorous as it sounds. Someone VERY VERY close to me was on the Board of the CAC until last week (about day 3 of the trial she had heard enough and resigned) On the board or not, it isn't like being on the board of some Fortune 500 company I assure you. (Not that it shouldn't be that way, but it isn't like a sought after, applied for type of position.) If I'm not mistaken, Buzzard sits pretty high up.

About Me

I teach economics at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. We are located on the Allegheny Plateau, and we have cool summers and tough winters.
I am the single father of five children, four of them adopted from overseas and I have two grandchildren. My family and I are members of Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA).